Door Number Four
by DragonStorm85
Summary: One-shot request. Tenten has always believed in fortune and luck. And in three very simple ways, she considers herself the luckiest person in her generation. Spoilers for events in Shippuuden.


**Theme**: "Three times Tenten was glad Gai was her sensei."  
**Character(s)**: Tenten, Maito Gai, Hatake Kakashi, Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma ; brief mentions of Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji  
**Pairing(s)**: None  
**Warning(s)**: None.  
**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but these words.  
**Note**: Written as a reply to a Three Times Meme request.  
**Dedicated to**: Um... whoever made the request I suppose.

In the beginning, Tenten had always believed that she was meant to be on a different squad. After all, to become a great kunoichi, you needed a great teacher. It was proven true for Tsunade. She had been the student of the Hokage, after all, who in turn had been the student of Hokages as well. So when it was revealed that she would be placed on a team under the instructions of a strange man in green spandex, it was fair to say that the kunoichi had been disappointed. It wasn't until years later that Tenten realized just how lucky she was.

- His reputation was iconic - legendary, even - almost placing him on the same level as the Sannin themselves. The Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. His progression through the ranks had been well documented in the village archives, Tenten knew. She had clocked in enough hours researching each and every instructor that had been available during the time of her graduation. Acadamy Alumni at age five, Chuunin the following year, and reaching the covetted rank of Jounin when he was only thirteen years old. He was, possibly, the most ideal instructor anyone in the Academy could ever want. And he was, perhaps, the most difficult to attain and keep.

Kakashi was still a great man, always will be, she supposed. As the only surviving student of the Fourth Hokage, her theory of great teachers churning out equally great students held true. And ultimately, he was a far less embarrassing instructor than Maito Gai could ever hope to be. But all the praise of his skill and comparatively better looks were laid to rest when it became apparent that he was not exactly the best to lead a team. At least not her team.

He was known to be single-minded and isolative in his youth, a trait that he had brought with him into adulthood as the silver-haired Jounin seemed to focus all of his attention into training Sasuke, all the while forgetting the fact that there were two other students willing and waiting for guidance. By that observation alone, Tenten would surely have been neglected. And then where would she have been? Just as overlooked as she had been in the Academy, that's where.

- She was a relative unknown up until then, finally achieving the coveted rank of Jounin after years of struggle and effort. Yuuhi Kurenai, genjutsu master and a fellow kunoichi of the Leaf. In that, Tenten could have related and emulated her for the dedication and diligence it took to pursue the same dream that a thousand others had, but less than a quarter ever achieved. And by that factor alone, the still fairly young woman (only older than her by a decade or so) was placed a notch or two above most any other instructor Tenten ever had at the Academy.

Whether directly or indirectly, she stood as a bar of which the younger kunoichi could measure her own strength and prowess. Kurenai was the past. Tenten and all those of her generation were the future, the continued legacy. It could only be a benefit to have a kunoichi as an instructor, someone who understood how much harder it was for a woman to survive in a profession that was dominated by men; crowded by men. And it could only stand as a step in the right direction to have a prime example of someone who successfully survived a lifetime working beside them. All the same, she would not have been an ideal fit for _their_ three-man squad.

There was not enough focus, not enough force behind her teaching methods from what Tenten could see. While fitting for the dynamics between Shino, Hinata, and Kiba, with personalities as unmovable and solid as Lee and Neji, a gentle hand would be of little use against a wall of stone. And it was only with someone who held a strong resolve that the two boys could find some ground of respect and compromise long enough for them all to grow through the years; that they all could find the strength to push through the difficulties that life seemed to always throw their way. They were a team with limitations, after all. And only with iron fist of determination could they - _she_ - ever be pushed to work past them every day.

- He was, perhaps, the one who could have understood them the best. Sarutobi Asuma. As the last surviving son of the Sandaime Hokage he had been born with a thousand and one obligations, most of which he could only hope to fulfill. And as a former member of the Twelve Shinobi Guardians, he held the strength and experience to be a formidable and driving instructor. All the while, there was a kind and caring nature hidden underneath that suggested he possessed the right amount of patience to deal with such clashing personalities that made up the dynamics of their little squad.

Of all the other shinobi available, Tenten would have chosen him to be her instructor. _Their_ instructor. His status alone would have gained instant respect from Neji. And his struggles to move out from underneath his father's shadow to blaze his own trail would have endeared Asuma to Lee. Even factoring in the blood relation the young man had to her, there would have been plenty of opportunity for improvement and advancement though the ranks for all of them. For years, even after growing fairly fond of her rabble of a team, she had believed this. Until the day _he_ ended up proving her wrong.

It was an understood truth that the life of a shinobi would be a short-lived one. Dangers lurked around every corner and the call of the shadows was a double-edge sword that only led to one possible end: death. And as she watched his students mourn the death of their teacher and comrade - as the kunoichi quietly lamented the loss of yet another family member - Tenten could not help but be guiltily thankful that Gai was not so fallible. Because they weren't ready to continue on without him. And surely, Team Gai would begin to fall apart without the solid foundation he had always given them all these years.

Maito Gai was not as powerful as Hatake Kakashi, and hardly as legendary, but he was not also weighed down by social roadblocks that had littered the shinobi's past either. He was not a shining beacon of a role-model as Yuuhi Kurenai might have been, but that only meant that there would be opportunities to overlook limitations in order to surpass expectations. And he was hardly perfect like Sarutobi Asuma, but at least he was wise enough to understand his own mortality to still remain in this plane of existence until his students no longer needed him.


End file.
